A majority of current research focuses on the effects of cocaine on the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, identified in prior studies as the reward center of the brain (Nestler, 2005a). Dopaminergic projections from the ventral tegmental area as well as glutamatergic projections from the prefrontal cortex synapse on inhibitory GABAergic medium spiny neurons in the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens; NAc) (Kauer and Malenka, 2007). This convergence of dopaminergic and glutamatergic projections, as well as accompanying biochemical and morphological changes, identified the NAc as a key integration point in the rewarding and addictive effects of drugs of abuse (Nestler, 2005b; Hyman et al., 2006; Kalivas and Volkow, 2011; Saunders and Robinson, 2011).
